The next three appointed times on YHVH’s calendar is approaching, Yom T’ruah, Yom Kippurim, and Sukkot. It is always a good thing to “take stock” of our spiritual condition before we observe these days. Especially Yom Kippurim, a day of humbling ourselves before YHVH. It is part of Jewish tradition to do introspection for forty days before Yom kippurim, the month of Elul and the Ten days of Awe (the first ten days of Tishri.) The word “elul” means search, so this is very appropriate as we search our hearts during this time. People examine themselves and forgive and ask forgiveness of those they have wronged. Though we should be doing this all the time, I find it a good tradition. It’s like a spiritual house cleaning before the fall feasts.

I am currently reading through the book of Isaiah, and Isaiah 58, struck a cord with me and it fits in very well with this context of searching our hearts. It showed me that only keeping YHVH’s commandments is not enough. If we only keep YHVH’s commandments, we are participating in false worship. This may seem like a harsh statement, but allow me to explain.

Broken people are inclined to be people pleasers, they tend not to have clear boundaries. They want to be accepted and will therefore always say yes. They are the ones you can always depend on to get things done. They are easily manipulated by others pleas or anger. They say yes, but may feel immense resentment while doing what they said they would. This leads to bitterness towards that person and themselves. They feel controlled by other people, but are unable to break this cycle for fear of an outburst of anger or losing a relationship. They are always taken advantage of by others. When they say no they feel selfish and guilty.

Is it really important to be baptized when coming to faith in Y’Shua as your Messiah? Y’Shua told His disciples to go and baptize people. The apostles kept up the tradition of baptizing new believers once they had acknowledged their faith in Y’Shua. The church as changed this doctrine over time to now also include infant baptism. Is this correct? As part of our continuing study on the spiritual dimension we will also look at the spiritual impact that baptism has in the life of a believer in Y’Shua.

Abundance is defined as a quantity considerably more than what one would expect or anticipate, beyond the norm2. Does this definition of abundance describe your life? Not only material things, but every aspect of your life: your relationships, health, your mental state, and most importantly your spiritual life. How would you describe your relationship with YHVH? Can you say you have a deep, intimate relationship with your Creator, Him fulfilling your every need? Do you hear His voice? Does He guide you in all your ways? If you were to describe your life metaphorically with either the word blessing or curse, what would it be?

All these questions are meant to prompt you to evaluate your life. How did you do?